ROUND STEAK ON TOAST

THIS RECIPE INTRODUCED ME TO THE CONCEPT OF MAKING A SAUCE. It hearkens back to my early cooking days when I was looking for something tasty to do with a cheap cut of meat, and found a recipe using round steak in a book called “Meals In Minutes.” It was one of a series of slender volumes put out by the folks at Better Homes & Gardens. I can’t recall when or where we bought the books, but I do recall that the recipe for the first truly complex meal I tried—Chicken Kiev—came from another of the series called “Meals with a Foreign Flair.”

But that day, I was looking for something to do with round steak. It’s not as expensive as filets and not as tough as chuck or some of those new exotic cuts that are making their way into the meat case at our antiseptic, chain grocers—cuts like “picnic steak,” “London broil” and “party steaks,” all of which seem to be cut from the parts of a cow criss-crossed with ample connective tissue.

Round steak takes well to a quick sauté without becoming too tough. Tournedos of beef are better, but things were tight back then. We had two kids. We were drinking cheap scotch, and not much of it. We had recently purchased a new home and even more recently a new car.

And not just any car—our first real American sedan.

My first car had been a 1966 Volkswagen that I bought with earnings from a summer job driving a wholesale ice cream truck. It was physically the hardest job I ever had but, hour for hour, one of the most lucrative. I made enough money that summer to buy the car and pay off most of it; buy an engagement ring for my wife-to-be; and have enough left for books for college that fall. The job also introduced me to the delights of tortoni and spumoni, two of Italy’s most delicious ice cream treats.

But back to the sedan. We were into our fourth Volkswagen when we moved into our new house. The first was the 1966 I bought after my ice cream summer. The second was a 52 VW bug with two gas tanks and a faulty heater that we bought in Germany as a second car. The third was a Volkswagen camper we traded in the 66 VW for so we could see more of Europe on five dollars a day. And the fourth was a lemon called a VW 411 that replaced the camper when we returned to the States. The 411 began to rust and fall apart within days of driving it home. Three years, one accident (we were rear-ended by a drunk) and several fenders later, we traded it in for a silver Chevy Impala sedan.

It was a major step up the economic ladder, but we were still eating round steak.

The original recipe called for a sauce with ½ cup of butter, Worcestershire and bottled steak sauce. Over the years, I’ve refined it, reducing the butter by half, eliminating the steak sauce and augmenting the mixture instead with a reduced beef stock thickened with a roux. The addition makes the sauce coat the steak and toast better. You could also refine it by using filet, but it would lose all of its charm. This recipe is for four.

Round Steak on Toast:The Recipe

Serves four

Ingredients

A one pound piece of round steak about a ¼ inch thick. Trim off all visible fat and cut into four pieces.

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons green onions, chopped finely.

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup of canned beef broth, reduced by about half. Prepare it according to the recipe in the Stock section.

1½ tablespoons Worcestershire

¼ cup butter melted

Four ½ inch slices of bread toasted. I like the big Italian loafs with a hard crust and a soft interior.

First: Prepare the beef broth following the recipe on page 216 in the Stock section and let it simmer.

Second: Cut the round steak into four pieces and sauté them in two tablespoons of butter over medium high heat for about three to four minutes on a side. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven.

Third: Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter to the pan. When the sizzle subsides, add the onions and stir for a few minutes.

Fourth: Make the roux. Add the flour to the onion and butter mixture and stir. The mixture will quickly turn brown due to the pan drippings. Continue to cook for three minutes.

Fifth: Add the reduced beef broth in a stream, stirring constantly. As the liquid thickens, add the Worcestershire and salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.

Sixth: Toast the bread in a toaster or under the broiler.

Seventh: Swirl the melted butter into the sauce. Dip the toast in the sauce and put on plates, then dip pieces of steak in the sauce and put on the toast. Spoon additional sauce over the meat as desired.

And finally: Serve with a full-bodied red. French fries go nicely with this dish.